Jose Mourinho is the betting favourite to become the next boss at Real Madrid, but could he survive a full season while also keeping the club’s star names together?
Last season was a disappointing one as Xabi Alonso left midway through a campaign that would see Madrid go trophy-less for the first time since the 2020/21 season.
A series of dressing room incidents and training ground bust-ups have hogged the headlines in recent weeks, adding to the sense that whoever takes over at the Bernabeu this summer will enter an extremely volatile situation.
And talks have taken place over a return to the Spanish capital for 63-year-old Mourinho, who is Florentino Perez’s favoured candidate to replace Alvaro Arbeloa.
Mourinho might not be the most obvious pick to quell such tumult, but Perez is seemingly counting on The Special One having the authority to command respect from Real Madrid’s big-name players.
At his best, Mourinho has been a players’ coach. The sort of manager players will run through a brick wall for. That was certainly true of Mourinho at Chelsea, Inter Milan and Porto where he enjoyed the most success.
More recently, though, Mourinho has struggled to strike the same understanding with his players.
It has been over a decade since the Portuguese last won a league title. His reputation has shifted in that time, so will Real Madrid’s biggest names respect Mourinho any more than they did Arbeloa or Alonso?
Mourinho is 5/4 with Betfair to win the La Liga title as Real Madrid manager next season.
Interestingly, those are shorter odds than the available odds of 13/10 not accounting for the Portuguese’s appointment, suggesting Mourinho will have a positive impact.
Stylistically, Mourinho might be a good fit for the squad he will inherit. Alonso failed, in part, because of his insistence on an aggressive out-of-possession approach. Mourinho, however, is more conservative in nature.
At the peak of his managerial career, he set up his teams to play in quick transition.
Porto, Chelsea and Inter all employed a low line of confrontation, not just to keep things compact defensively, but to create open space to attack at pace heading in the other direction.
This is an approach that could get the best out of attacking speedsters like Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, neither of whom wanted to do the out-of-possession work that Alonso demanded.
On the flip side, though, Mourinho is also priced at evens to depart Real Madrid before the end of the 2026-27 season, reflecting some uncertainty around his potential appointment and suitability for the job.
He is 3/1 to leave his position as Real Madrid before the first day of 2027, in which case the Portuguese’s second coming in the Spanish capital will have been an abject failure.
In the eyes of many, Mourinho is yesterday’s man. It has been 16 years since he last got his hands on the Champions League trophy, a prize Real Madrid will be expected to challenge for next season.
Even more stark than this, Mourinho has not won a knockout tie in the Champions League since 2014 when he was in his second stint as Chelsea manager.
It is not only Mourinho’s lack of recent major titles and tangible success that raises questions about his candidacy for the Real Madrid vacancy, it is his tactical methods and ideas.
He has been left behind by the modern game, which puts a greater emphasis on pressing and intricate possession sequences. Mourinho is a product of a different era.
Some squad surgery might be required for Real Madrid to be in a position for success under Mourinho and it would be intriguing to discover how he handles star players.
For Mbappe, Vinicius or Jude Bellingham to leave during the 2026 summer transfer window is priced at 9/4.
It seems unlikely that such a big name would be pushed out the exit door, considering Mourinho’s looming appointment appears designed to get the best out of Real Madrid’s collection of superstars.
Yet there was friction between Mourinho and Vinicius from last season’s Champions League game between Benfica and Real Madrid, and Mourinho is not a manager likely to shirk a confrontation if problems arise.
Mourinho proved himself as Real Madrid manager once before. While his first stint in the Spanish capital pushed him to the brink, he still masterminded a title triumph over Pep Guardiola’s legendary Barcelona side.
Barca are once again leading the way in La Liga. Hansi Flick’s team are back-to-back champions and have a core of La Masia graduates that evoke the memory of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and the rest.
The success or failure of Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid will largely be defined by what he can pull off against Barcelona.
He is 10/3 to do a knee-slide celebration during a Clasico at the Camp Nou this season and the prospect of narratives like that do add a sense of wonder.
Real Madrid need something special to catch their Catalan rivals and they are calling The Special One to provide it.
